Lucerne

The trolleybuses built by NAW shaped Lucerne's appearance. Also because they have been pulling trailers since 1998.

The Trolleybus was introduced in Lucerne in 1941/42. At the beginning the new mode of transportation was thought to complete the existing tram and motor bus network and kept rather small dimensions, eventhough it was extended in 1951. This changed in 1959-61, when the inhabitants decided that the two tram lines Luzern Bahnho f -Emmenbrücke and Maihof - Luzern Bahnhof -Kriens should be replaced by trolleybuses. 36 new rigid trolleybuses replaced the tramway. New trolleybus lines followed in the years 1962, 1966 and 1986. And the network grew further due to line extensions in the years 1990, 2004 and 2013. The trolleybus Lucerne is really important for Central Switzerland, which can be seen on the amount of passengers. The trolleybus line 1 transports more passengers than any line of S-Bahn Zentralschweiz.

The trolleybus fleet of Lucerne had several specialities:

Two dual-mode buses converted from diesel-electric motor buses were able to run on trolleybus and motor bus lines between 1941 and 1966.

Service with bus trailers theoretical until 1974, actually until the end of the 1950s. Bus trailers were introduced again in 1998.

Note: The trolleybus showed in our logo is modelled after the trolleybus series No. 201-242, which were purchased in 1959-63. Most of those vehicles were in use in Lucerne until the late 1980ies. To of those trolleybuses (No 226 and 227) wers sold to Schaffhausen, where the were in service between 1980 and 1991. This was a rare case of a used trolleybus trade between cities in German-speaking Switzerland. Way more often cities from French-speaking Switzerland bought buses of the German-speaking part (especially Zürich). Nowadays, a vehicle in each livery (Lucerne and Schaffhausen) of the series No. 201-242 is preserved.